Richa Singh works on
issues affecting women in Sitapur dt., UP. She was an employee of
Mahila Samakhya, a program for women's empowerment funded by the
World Bank and then the Dutch government, and implemented by the
government of India. In every district where Mahila Samakhya
operates, it encourages the village level workers to register their
own organization under another name so that the work of women’s
empowerment may continue after the time-bound funded program of
Mahila Samakhya withdraws from the district. Thus, the Sitapur
branch of Mahila Samakhya-Uttar Pradesh is the parent organization
from which Sangtin emerged of which Richa is a member. Richa, along
with 7 other members of Sangtin, collaborated on a journaling
project that culminated in a book 'Sangtin yatra: saat zindagiyon
mein lipti naari vimarsh', published in Hindi in June 2004. This
effort helped the members of Sangtin develop a vision for their work
independent of Mahila Samakhya. At the same time, backlash against
some of the criticism published in the book ultimately resulted in
Richa resigning from her job at Mahila Samakhya. Richa now plans to
work full-time with Sangtin.
The goals of Richa Singh and Sangtin over the next few years are
twofold: to achieve some measure of economic independence so that
their activities aren't limited by the priorities of funding
agencies, and to develop more concrete interventions to some of the
issues they have identified. They have been working to combat
violence against women for the past 8-14 years and will continue
that work in a more integrated manner. Additionally, they plan to
grapple with the issue of lowering incomes of farmers and workers in
the 'chikan' industry, falling ground water levels etc. Their goal
is to work with villagers to tackle the unique problems each village
faces.
Details
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AID Saathi since:
December, 2004
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Supporting chapter:
Minnesota
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Saathi coordinator:
Sudha Nagavarapu
